Oconee County has successfully transitioned from its old wastewater treatment facility at Calls Creek on the northeast of Watkinsville to a new one still under construction at the same site.
The switchover from the old treatment facility to the new took place earlier this month, and all of the county's sewage coming into the plant is now being handled by the new facility.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday will consider a revision to its Utility Accommodation Ordinance to address small cell technology and other new technologies being utilized in the telecommunications industry.
The proposed revision follows a moratorium passed by the Board at a called meeting on Aug. 16 barring the issuance of permits and the acceptance of applications for permits for the installation of wireless communication devices and facilities in the county's rights of way.
Oconee County is holding a meeting at 9 a.m. on Monday to discuss the current governmental structure for promotion of economic development in the county and consider a new structure for the future.
County Administrator Justin Kirouac said he plans to present his recommendations to the Board of Commissioners, the Board of Education, the Industrial Development Authority, and members of the city councils of Bishop, Bogart, North High Shoals and Watkinsville.
The Georgia governor’s race is Republican Brian Kemp’s to lose, political scientist Charles Bullock, an expert on Georgia elections, told Oconee County Republicans on Thursday night.
“The Republicans should win this,” Bullock, distinguished University of Georgia professor, said. “This is still a Republican state.”
Oconee County Republican Party Chair Tammy Gilland told those gathered for the Grand Opening of the 2018 Campaign Headquarters last week that the local party is excited about the election season but is aware that much work needs to be done.
Gilland said party members need to make a lot of phone calls and knock on lots of doors to “spread the word about the great candidates that we have.”
The Oconee County Republican Party Executive Committee has placed severe restrictions on media coverage of its meetings, starting with the one on Thursday and running through the election in November.
Tammy Gilland, chair of the local party organization, said that media representatives are allowed to attend the next three party meetings but that they are not allowed to record the meetings in any way and not allowed to take any notes.
Oconee County officials are still waiting on Presbyterian Homes to indicate how much money it wants the county to borrow through bond sales to help finance construction of its Presbyterian Village Athens on U.S. 441 at Hog Mountain Road.
In the last two weeks the company began land clearance and construction of a chain-link fence along U.S. 441 for its complex. The county had issued a Land Disturbance Permit for the 79-acre property nearly a year ago.
